EVOLO Arch Competition

Caleb Acker

Mike Everts

Arch 524

Fall 2010

Louisiana has seen its fair share of disaster.
The events of hurricane Katrina killed 1,500
people and caused an estimated 125 billion in
damages. This catastrophic event was only one
of the many problems that the state has seen.
Flooding has plagued the region since the day it
was settled, and will only get worse with time.
Recent research by the USGS has shown that
1,900 square miles of land have been lost
on the Louisiana coast in the past 78 years.
In other words, an area of land roughly the
size of Delaware is now under water. This is
due to a series of effects

including tropical storms, rising sea levels, the diversion of the
Mississippi River, and the natural removal of
sediment by ocean forces. The land which is
being lost primarily consists of barrier islands
and wetlands, which are some of the most
fertile habitats on the planet. This land is vital
to plants and animals, and its importance to
mankind is even more so. These wetlands act
as a buffer and surge barrier. Essentially, they
are the best defense that New Orleans has
against another devastating hurricane. If this
trend is allowed to continue, Tropical Storms
will continue to have a more direct route
to populated areas. The Corps of Engineers
suggests building levees stronger; driving steel
deeper and laying concrete thicker, but this is a
step in the wrong direction.
The process begins with two naturally occurring
forces in the ocean, turbidity and upwelling.
These forces provide an

ideal situation which can be taken advantage of by placing a
specifi c fl oating framework of nets between
them. Anchored to the continental shelf, this
framework consists of aluminum foam coated
in a layer of silicon. The aluminum foam
gives the frame buoyancy, while the silicon
serves a separate function which is seen at a
microscopic level.
Silicon is a primary food source of
microorganisms called diatoms. Diatoms, or
environmental engineers as they are often
called, live throughout oceans and marshes and
perform many functions. The most important
of these is their ability to aggregate soil.
Through a chemical process, they bind sand,
CO2, and organic matter together to create an
aggregated soil.
Fed by the silicon and surrounded by the
ingredients to aggregate soil, the Diatoms
start creating a landmass on the frame that

begins to gain buoyancy through additions of
organic matter and CO2. The upper levels of
the framework fi ll fi rst and raise subsequent
levels to begin accumulating sediment. The
fi nal product is a landmass capable of reducing
the impact of a storm surge.
The benefi ts begin surfacing with the landmass.
The space between the coast and the new
barrier becomes shielded from open ocean
forces and encourages tidal communities to
form, which are some of the richest marine
habitats. Additional habitat is created on
the landmass itself. The massive amount of
surface area created below the water allows
for a signifi cant rise in aquatic populations; in
turn, boosting the suffering Louisiana fi shing
industry.